Books

Red Robin Hood: A Collection of Alternative Fairy Tales

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Fairy tales have been passed down throughout the ages, where different cultures have recorded unique variations of the same fundamental stories. The SurLaLune series, for example, has entire books of all the different versions of Beauty and the Beast, Cinderella, The Twelve Dancing Princesses, etc.

But there are some versions that have been passed down much less reliably over time, and after working with a team of highly skilled researchers from only the best institutions from around the world, we are excited to premiere here a preliminary list of their titles, alongside brief summaries. We can only hope that as research continues the details of these stories will similarly be brought to light, to delight children’ ears just as they did in ancient times. Continue reading “Red Robin Hood: A Collection of Alternative Fairy Tales”

Classical Music Stories

Classical Music Stories: Rapunzel’s Daydreams

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From the composer of Clair de Lune comes piano music that is equally dreamy, equally magical…

Classical Music Stories is a series that connects music to your favorite books and characters. Since listening to classical music can be like hearing a story, imagining specific stories that match the music can make it that much more fun and accessible! Continue reading “Classical Music Stories: Rapunzel’s Daydreams”

Books

Recasting Mulan with Classic Literary Characters

Mulan DVD books

We’re about a year and a half out from Disney’s live action remake of Mulan, and the excitement is real. But I started wondering…if there were to be a sort of literary recasting of the movie, which literary characters would have the most in common with the movie characters? Continue reading “Recasting Mulan with Classic Literary Characters”

Music

Top 10 Song Adaptations: The Quirky, the Funny, and the Intriguing

Quirky funny song adaptations; cat banjo

Some are quirky; some are funny; some are both. Some are even inspired by books and movies!

Back in Music Mash-Ups: Rock + Chopin, Rock + Opera, I talked about how retellings of fairy tales and books like Jane Eyre (Jane Steele/Jane Slayre) are a lot like mash-ups between different genres of music–and how amazing they both are. But lately I’ve come across some new mash-ups, as well as some looser “adaptations” of music where it’s less about two genres coming together and more about importing a song into a new context (like in the Pride and Prejudice movie with Keira Knightley).

The best part is that depending on the song and style, adaptations can be hilarious, moving, or just plain quirky! So without further ado, here are ten song adaptations to brighten your day: Continue reading “Top 10 Song Adaptations: The Quirky, the Funny, and the Intriguing”

Classical Music Stories

Classical Music Stories: Peter Pan and Following the Leader

We’re back with more classical music stories! Today we’re looking at some more music that may inspire thoughts of Peter Pan, and Wendy in particular.

Classical Music Stories is a series that connects music to your favorite books and characters. Since listening to classical music can be like hearing a story (albeit an abstract one), imagining specific stories that match the music can make it that much more fun and accessible! Continue reading “Classical Music Stories: Peter Pan and Following the Leader”

Books

What If Books Used “Easter Eggs?”

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What if books had hidden “Easter eggs” like in the movies?

Sometimes in movies the viewer will find hidden or bonus information that only someone who has seen all of the other related movies would understand. For example, in Disney’s Aladdin, when Jasmine’s father is Continue reading “What If Books Used “Easter Eggs?””

Classical Music Stories

Classical Music Stories: Beauty and the Beast

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What better way to celebrate the release of the live action Beauty and the Beast movie than to share a piece that encompasses all of the magic of the story? This piece really brought to life certain scenes in the fairy tale for me Continue reading “Classical Music Stories: Beauty and the Beast”

Music

Top 5 Electric Guitar Versions of Songs That Need to Happen

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The face you get when you give a classical pianist an electric guitar

I’ve discovered that playing Taylor Swift’s “Bad Blood” on the heavy metal setting of my electric guitar is not only awesome, but super cathartic.  As a result, I’ve been thinking about other songs I could crank Continue reading “Top 5 Electric Guitar Versions of Songs That Need to Happen”

Books, The Other Stuff

What If Alice In Wonderland Characters Played Sports?

If Mermaids Wore Suspenders turned one year old yesterday! (I guess that means it’s sleeping more at night and will start to babble soon?) I’m thrilled that so many of you have found this blog enjoyable.  Always feel free to leave comments or email me with any questions or thoughts you may have about the blog’s content! I love exploring different viewpoints on books and music with people.

To celebrate this first blogiversary, here’s a look back at my first blog post–just in time for the Olympics!

Alice: Obstacle course racing

Just like in Wonderland, she wouldn’t Continue reading “What If Alice In Wonderland Characters Played Sports?”